Platform: PC (Xbox and PS2 TBA)

Genre: Action

Publisher: KockMedia (PC Version)

Developer: Spirit

ESRB: TBA

Related Links:

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean (Xbox)

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Voodoo Islands

Ahoy, me hearties! There be another pirate game on the horizon.  After completing a beta version in July 2003, Independent German developer Spirit is busy putting some finishing touches on Voodoo Islands, an upcoming action title for the PC and, if the stormy seas of game publishing prove navigable, the Xbox and PS2.  The past couple of years have been a watershed for armchair buccaneers, with EA's Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat and Akeda's Pirate's of the Caribbean respectively fulfilling demands within the gaming community for both buxom, sword-wielding women with foreign accents and 18th century colonial intrigue.

Voodoo Islands walks a line between those earlier titles. With the Spanish Imperial Army as one of your primary enemies, the story is more grounded in the time period than Legend of Black Kat. Inhabiting the role of Captain Kidd -- a pirate who has inherited a ship and crew from a scurvy old sea dog, you'll be fighting through towns and forts inhabited by military folk in tri-cornered hats as well as grappling with the islands' voodoo practitioners, who have set traps and summoned fearsome beasts and spirits to protect the islands' treasures.

Yet with 20 levels of mission-based action on land and sea, the pacing of the game will be more similar to a hack-and-slash than to Pirates of the Caribbean's open-ended RPG approach.

Ship and character upgrades are a key part of the game, allowing you to battle against increasingly challenging Spanish and pirate warships at sea and against more difficult foes on land. Captain Kidd also has his own home island, which can, over the course of the game, be fortified against attacks from these enemies. Reportedly, the islands themselves sport abundant booty for the cause.

Features:

- Story incorporates missions against the Spanish colonial army as well as voodoo cults throughout the islands. Plenty of sub-plots and sidequests add depth.

- Action based gameplay on both sea and land.

- Ships, characters and your home base can be upgraded with a variety of weapons and fortifications to fight and defend against increasingly challenging enemies.

In early 2002, the game's screenshots -- which were still on display at Spirit's homepage www.go4spirit.com at press time -- had an almost cartoonish feel. The game's development team has since opted for a much moodier look. Buildings and characters are now more detailed and realistic, and it appears the team at Spirit has rendered both the skies and the sea in a beautiful gloom, leaving our hero Captain Kidd to sail and swashbuckle in perhaps the most overcast weather the Caribbean has ever seen. An eerie, haunting score by Dynamedion promises to darken that atmosphere even further.

It looks like a change for the better. A cartoonish look worked great years ago with LucasArts' venerable adventure title Monkey Island, where battles were fought primarily by trading pirate insults, but with such a wealth of pirate material left unplundered by the gaming industry, it's good to see a developer leaning toward something a little more sinister.

Voodoo Islands has not yet been rated by the ES-Arrr-B.

- M. Enis

(December 1, 2003)